Rep. Tim LewisSTATE News:
SANTA FE — The House Education Committee unanimously approved Jan. 30 House Bill 55, legislation sponsored by Rep. Tim Lewis (R-Rio Rancho) to increase scholarship benefits for children of firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty.
The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Patricio Ruiloba (D-Albuquerque) and Sen. Bill O’Neill (D-Albuquerque).
HB 55 expands the benefits currently available to eligible survivors to include room and board support for students as well as assistance paying for books and supplies. It also adds a year to the benefit, increasing it from five academic years to six.
In addition, the bill would make students attending out-of-state public institutions eligible for the scholarship. The bill caps the scholarship amount at the average cost of attendance for a New Mexico in-state institution.
“Nothing can ease the pain of losing a parent, but we can help support these students pursue their academic goals,” Lewis said. “The families of fallen first responders have already sacrificed so much for New Mexico. The least we can do is reduce the financial burden of paying college expenses, wherever they choose to go school.”
Allyson Harris, the daughter of Sergeant Joseph Harris, a Sandoval County Sheriff’s Officer who was killed in the line of duty in 2009, wrote in support of the legislation. She is currently attending Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Colorado.
“Children of fallen officers are not in large volume, but those of us that have gone through the death of a parent would be forever grateful to be given an opportunity to go anywhere for college with little or no debt looming over their life,” Harris wrote.
She added, “I have friends, who are also survivors of fallen officers in Colorado, who are not attending college here in Colorado, but who are able to attend college in other states while still receiving their benefits of college tuition from the state of Colorado given to survivors. It would be a tremendous support to my education to receive these same benefits from my home state, and the state where my father gave his life, even though I am attending college in a different state.”
